Lincoln City: market on the map

By Sabine Wilson

For the TODAY

Nothing announces “spring” to the community quite like the treasured Lincoln City Farmers & Crafters Market. The market is a one-stop shop for all of your fresh produce needs and sets the standard for innovative and creative treasures for you to take home or give to your loved ones.

This year the market has up to 60 different vendors including Earthlights, who create beautiful and ignitable pieces; Stoopid Veganz, the hottest new food vendor in town; and Faewerx, who create custom pieces inspired by the world around us.

Earthlights utilizes some of the Earth’s rarest and most beautiful elements, like vananydyte and black amethyst, and turns it into a useful household item — a candle.

Paul and Jan Carrow started the business 13 years ago and began selling at the Portland Saturday Market.

“What’s cool about these is they have a function and are useful,” Jan said. “It’s something people can put out in their homes to appreciate.”

Incorporating sustainability into every product, Earthlights end up having zero parts to replace.

“We use upcycled lids and a glass wick which you never have to replace; the only thing you have to replenish is the oil,” Jan said.

Earthlights uses crystals and fossils from all over the world coming from Brazil, Uruguay and Madagascar. Since there is such a diversity in the elements’ backgrounds, Jan and Paul try to make sure to give their customers facts about the rock they choose.

“We try to teach people about each and every rock we use,” Jan said, “so they can take a bit with them and share that information with their family, friends or whoever they get exposed to.”

For anyone that dares question whether vegan food can be as mouth-watering as a meat-lover’s diet, the Stoopid Veganz' food truck settles the issue once and for all.

Co-owners and experienced foodies, Cammeron Kelso and Jordyn Rasey, sought to create a menu with options that are equally delicious and healthy and take every aspect into consideration to create a delicious meal.

“We have paid close attention to the texture, taste and look of our food so that we can make veganism more approachable to the everyday consumer,” Rasey said. “We love animals, but we also love good food and don’t believe that those two things should have to cancel each other out.”

“We like to recreate food items that we once loved before we went vegan,” Rasey added. “We love replicating flavor, texture and experience with food.”

This type of thought and attention to detail is what makes every menu item delicious.

“You can’t go wrong with anything on the Stoopid Veganz menu,” Rasey said. “The classic Italian sub has always been our favorite. It’s loaded with toppings and sauces like roasted hot and sweet peppers, heirloom tomatoes and oil and vinegar, with two of our signature recipe cold cuts, pastrami and salami, cooked to perfection in our red wine reduction.”

To finish it off, try the perfect pairing of their signature blackberry, strawberry or original lemonades.

At the Faewerx booth, you’ll find founders Nissa Parker and David Wolf, who both feel passionately about connecting to the divine in nature and the spirit in the world around us. 

They mindfully handcraft their mystical art using materials provided by nature, with an inventiveness that pays homage to the Faerie realm.

“We figured everything we make would fall into a category that was inspired by magic and nature,” Parker said. “We try to put magic back into the mundane.”

“One of our top three focuses is ethical harvesting: taking from plants that are not overharvested,” Wolf said.

Medicinal plants like sandalwood, only found in Hawaii, and white sage, used by indigenous peoples for sacred medicinal and ceremonial purposes, continue to be overharvested with the rise in popularity of practices like smudging.

“We want to be as culturally respectful as possible,” Parker said. “We notice a lot of people who sell stones that come from mines with unethical practices so we try to find our own stones and have respect for the land and the people.”

With everything from embroidery, hot wax melts, incense and smoke cleaning to jewelry and repurposed works found in the wilderness, customers can rest assured that each piece is made with an abundance of thought and care.

“We acknowledge that we are interconnected with all living things,” Parker said.

Visit the Lincoln City Farmers & Crafters Markets on the front lawn of the Lincoln City Cultural Center, 540 NE Hwy 101, every Sunday until mid-October from 9 am to 2 pm. For more information, go to www.lincolncityfarmersmarket.org.